


USS Saturn: Where Were You...?

by Taralbooks



Series: USS Saturn [2]
Category: Star Trek
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23511799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taralbooks/pseuds/Taralbooks
Summary: On 5 April 2063, amidst First Contact Day festivities, the Federation was shocked when the synthetic humanoids working on Mars suddenly attacked the Utopia Planitia shipyards orbiting and on the surface of the red planet. Over 92,000 people died, and the planet was rendered uninhabitable for millions more.The synth attack on Mars was a turning point for the Federation. Life after it was different than life before it in a lot of ways. It was this generation’s Pearl Harbor, 9/11, or First Contact.Everyone remembers where they were on First Contact Day 2385.This work collects the stories of the characters of the fiction USS Saturn and where they were on that fateful day.
Series: USS Saturn [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659310





	USS Saturn: Where Were You...?

**Cardassian Border**

**7 April 2385, 14:30**

  
The _USS Tucker_ NCC-81600 traveled at low warp through Federation space. Power output was reduced and the ship’s radiation sink was operating. Emissions were virtually nil. In the incredibly unlikely event that an enemy ship spotted them, they were merely a Starfleet frigate traveling from Deep Space Nine to Starbase 375 on routine business. Nothing more. And though the Cardassians would suspect it, they could never prove that the _Tucker_ was collecting Signals Intelligence — secret communications between Cardassia Prime and colonies, outposts, and patrol ships.  
  
Captain Juliet St. Clair insisted on radio silence during such operations. Though outgoing communications were by far the more dangerous when avoiding detection, incoming communications might be used to trace them or deliver malicious software. Not only that, the Captain strongly preferred using all available transceiver bandwidth for signals collection.  
  
Anything that Command would need to reach her for could wait. And there was an emergency protocol for contacting and recalling ships urgently. The Tactical Officers knew the protocols and knew to report to her directly, bypassing the lead bridge officer and the First Officer, if they ever detected it.  
  
Juliet never expected to receive one of these emergency calls. They represented only the most urgent situations. The collection of intelligence was considered so important that it was preferable to have ships finish their missions rather than abandon them under virtually all circumstances. Juliet had only heard about five cases since the turn of the century when intel ships were recalled: the Romulan attack on Narendra III in 2344; the Cardassian sneak attack on Setlik III in 2347; the gathering of the fleets at Wolf 359 and Earth in 2366 and 2372; and most recently when knowledge of the Romulan supernova became public just four years earlier.  
  
“Bridge to Captain St. Clair,” came the voice of Ensign Jameson, the Tactical Officer presently on duty, over the comm system of the Ready Room. “We’ve received a recall order.”  
  
Juliet promptly locked her computer terminal and instinctively looked up when speaking via comms. “Verified?”  
  
“Twice, ma’am,” said Jameson.  
  
The Captain let out a sigh. Something big had happened. “Understood. I’m on my way.” She stood and walked directly to the bridge.  
  
Juliet’s First Officer, Commander Robert Haroldson, stood from the command chair and offered it to his Captain. “I knew it was important when Henry reported to you instead of me,” he said with a smirk. “We’re still at warp, but the collection unit knows we’re reallocating transceiver bandwidth imminently.”  
  
“Good work,” said Juliet. “Helm, bring us to sublight speed. Ops, ping Starbase 375 and make available enough bandwidth for their reply.”  
  
The _Tucker_ slowed from 110 times the speed of light to only 12% of it. Two minutes later, a classified data pack was received. The first item in the pack was, surprisingly, for the entire crew and was unclassified. “Put it on the viewscreen,” Juliet ordered.  
  
It was an order she immediately regretted.  
  
“On Stardate 62259.3,” said the voiceover, whom Juliet recognized as Kirsten Clancy, Fleet Admiral Bordson’s adjutant, “the Utopia Planitia shipyards came under attack.”  
  
_Two days ago? This bad and they waited this long to recall us?_ Juliet wondered what it meant.  
  
On the screen, a number of support ships opened fire on the ships of the still-under-construction rescue armada, the drydocks, the orbital stations, and the planet itself. The atmosphere itself appeared to catch fire as incendiary weapons were fired into it. “The death toll has not yet been finalized, but we expect it to surpass ninety thousand. Though the exact cause of this attack has not yet been identified, we do know the attack was carried out by rogue or corrupt synthetic workers. The devastation to Mars’s ecosystem is severe. Survivors are being evacuated to Earth, but initial estimates suggest they may never be able to return.”  
  
The helm officer covered her mouth as she stared at the screen. The science officer began to cry; Juliet knew he had family there.  
  
Juliet pushed her feelings down. She had to appear strong before a crew who needed her. So she swallowed hard, stood, and looked back to XO Haroldson. “Anything else?”  
  
“Summaries of news feeds,” he said, reading off the table of contents. “A few Eyes-Only reports for you. And orders to return to 375 with all haste.”  
  
The Captain nodded. “Send it all to my Ready Room. Make the news reports open to anyone who asks for it. Set a course for 375, maximum warp. And let it be known that anyone who wants to talk about this is welcome to knock on my door at any time.”  
  
As Juliet returned to her Ready Room, the _Tucker_ jumped to 1,640 times the speed of light. An important asset was destroyed. Tens of thousands were dead. Millions more displaced, having lost everything. The entire synth labour force was probably going to be deactivated, possibly permanently decommissioned.  
  
Poring over reports, trying not to think about anyone she knew who might’ve been on Mars at the time, Juliet thought about how this was a turning point for her culture. She knew of many such moments, when the world was simply _different_ from one day to the next.  
  
7 December 1941: the attack on Pearl Harbor.  
11 September 2001: the attack on the World Trade Center.  
1 May 2053: the nuclear exchange of World War III.  
5 April 2063: Vulcans land in Bozeman, Montana. Humans learn they aren’t alone in the universe.  
24 April 2153: the Xindi attack on Earth, which began the first serious conflict between humans and another species.  
1 January 2367: the Battle of Wolf 359.  
And now added to that list, 5 April 2385: the synth attack on Utopia Planitia.  
  
An hour into these dark thoughts, Juliet’s door chimed. In came Lieutenant Saunders, the Ops Officer. “I’m sorry to bother you, Captain, but—”  
  
“No bother, Jim,” Juliet said, waving him in. She locked her station and gestured to a seat. “Come in and sit. Let’s talk a moment.”


End file.
